Saturday, September 15, 2007

Our winter garden for the year 2007 .
The winter garden in bloom with aloes and an enchanting lily endemic to South Africa.

It is a wet winter this year with few sunny days. The disadvantage is that the pollen is wet and pollination is difficult. We had so many new hybrid aloe seeds in mind, but that is life... sigh. The aloes that bloom in winter are from the summer rainfall area where there will be no problem with pollination in winter. Most South African aloes ( 90%+ ) are from the summer rainfall - which is logical as only the western cape has winter rainfall.
I exchanged some lily bulbs and these two lilies were first to bloom. Lovely!!

I am not a botanist - if you have not noticed.
Anybody know what lilies these might be? Clue - they are endemic to South Africa.
Most lilies are so quick to bloom and disappear, but it is exciting to find the blooms
every year, if only they would remain a little longer.

4 comments:

Angie said...

Your Aloe's are very beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking your "lilies" are gladiolus.

Can't wait for your pics from the Karoo.

Unknown said...

It's always nice to see flowers that I cant grow myself, always make my feet itvchy to travel.

Anonymous said...

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http://myeasygardening.com/home/